


Back Again

by Kaunis_Sielu



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), NCIS
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 16:15:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13011465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaunis_Sielu/pseuds/Kaunis_Sielu
Summary: You are a member of Gibb's NCIS team. When your case meets the BAU's you're sent out to California to help





	1. Chapter 1

You’d met him while in the Navy. He and his team had caught a killer on your ship, you’d asked if they’d been hiring and when Gibbs nodded once you applied. You left the Navy and joined NCIS, learning Gibbs’ rules quickly and proving yourself on more than on occasion. Which was why you couldn’t understand why you were being called into the Director’s office. You’re allowed right in, which makes you even more anxious.   
Your eyes fall on Gibbs first. He looks pissed, but then again nine times out of ten when he’s in this room he looks pissed.   
“Director you wanted to see me?” You ask after shutting the door.   
“Yes, I did.” Director Vance straightens his tie then looks over at you. “You know the serial killer case that your team has been working?” You nod, “We were just informed that the FBI is already working the case.”  
“But it started on a Navy base and has stayed on Navy bases. They don’t have jurisdiction.” You tell him.   
“That’s what we thought too. Their BAU has said differently.”  
“So you want me to send them over everything I have?” You sigh, the case had gone pretty cold in the past few weeks so Gibbs had given you the task of staying on top of any new information that came in.   
“Not exactly.” Director Vance says with a glance at the still silent and still glowering Gibbs.   
“Okay, so what exactly?” You’re not understanding what he wants from you.   
“You’re being sent to work with the FBI until this case is over.”  
“Oh god. Not with Fornell.” You groan and both men chuckle.   
“No, not with Fornell, you’re going to work directly with their Behavioral Analysis Unit, the BAU.”  
“Awesome.” You deadpan, “When do I leave?”  
“Wheels up in one hour.”  
“Wheels up? Where am I going?”   
“North Island Navel Air Station.”  
“California?” Gibbs nods. “Aw hell.” You grumble.  
When the plane touches down you’re instructed to meet an Agent named Morgan. He’s leaning against a black SUV, arms folded across an impressive chest.   
“Agent Morgan?” You ask and he nods.   
“How long have you been on the case?”  
“About a month, we didn’t realize that there were more murders off base.”  
“How many have there been on Navy bases?”  
“This is six.” Your phone rings and glancing down at the screen you see the face of your boss looking unamused staring back at you. “Excuse me, it’s my boss.” You tell Morgan, as he’s asked you to call him.   
“No problem. I should call Hotch too.” He says plucking his phone from the cup holder.   
“Yea Gibbs?”  
“You meet up with them yet?”  
“No, Agent Morgan and I are on our way to the police station. Apparently that’s where they make their home base when they’re out of town. Want me to connect with the LA team? Let them know I’m here?”  
“No.”  
“Any reason why?”  
“No need. You’re part of the FBI team until this is over. No need to involve more NCIS.”  
“Sounds good Boss. I’ll call later with an update.”  
“Yup.” You’d actually gotten more out of him than you thought you would conversation wise. Morgan finishes up his call then explains how their team works.   
There are seven of them. Only six out in the field but the last member, Garcia, is their tech goddess, Morgan’s words.   
Their team leader is Hotch, a man who sounds like he’s no nonsense much like Gibbs. Except less of a functional mute.   
Rossi is the oldest member of the team, having returned after retirement because he had a few cases he wanted to finish up. Some old ones that had haunted him.   
Reid is a genius. In his mid-thirties he’s the youngest member of the squad but knows pretty much everything, and isn’t afraid to prove it. Morgan challenges you to stump him on a question but swears it’s not possible. You can tell he really admires the kid, no matter what he may say.  
JJ is the newest to profiling, having started out as their press liaison she’s been with the team a long time just not always as a profiler. She also worked over in Afghanistan for a while, only to come back from the pentagon with a passion, and according to Morgan, great skill for profiling.   
Prentiss rounds out the squad. She was an undercover Agent for a while, worked with Interpol, is back now and was much missed by her team.   
“You’re easy to talk to.” Morgan says after a while, he seems surprised that he gave you so much information when you haven’t divulged really anything. But he’s not working with your team, you’re working with his.   
“Thank you.” You give him a smile, “You seem like you’ve got a solid team.”  
“We do. It’ll be nice to have your expertise on this one though. How did you join up with NCIS?”  
“I was in the Navy. My best friend was murdered and Gibbs, my boss, promised he’d catch her killer and when he did the bastard worked on our ship. He’d been stalking her for a while and no one helped her so, when my tour was up I applied to work at NCIS and Gibbs remembered me from the case and agreed to take me on. Our team is smaller than yours, just four of us that are agents, me, Gibbs, Tony and McGee. We work closely with Abby our forensic analyst and Ducky and Palmer. Ducky’s the ME and Palmer is his assistant.”  
“You’ve only got four field agents?”  
“Yea, we all double up on jobs, Tim is really good with a computer, I do linguistics and Tony,” you pause for a second, “Tony’s a pain in the ass but he’s street smart. Gibbs is our fearless leader. Tony calls him a functional mute.” Morgan chuckles softly,  
“Functional mute, that’s funny.”   
“Please don’t tell him that.” You tell him with a grin, “I don’t want his head to swell any more than it already has.”   
“As long as you don’t tell Reid what I said about him.”   
“Deal.” You laugh as he pulls into the police station parking lot.   
Here goes.


	2. Chapter 2

“This is the NCIS Agent that’s going to be working with us.” Morgan says then introduces you to JJ, Rossi and Reid.   
“There are two more of you right? Prentiss and Hotch?” You ask the group in front of you.   
“Yea. Good memory.” JJ compliments and you grin back over at her.   
“Thank you, should I wait to give you the information until your whole team is here?”  
“That would probably be best. They just went to grab food, we didn’t know you’d be here so soon so we didn’t get you anything.”  
“Oh that’s fine. Gibbs doesn’t really do food so I’m used to only two meals a day. And, I travel prepared.” You give them a grin pulling two protein bars out of your bag.   
“We’re usually the same way. We’ve kind of hit a dead end and the Navy doesn’t really want to play nicely.”  
“Pretty soon they won’t have a choice.” You tell them pulling your binder out of your bag and placing it on the table.   
“Good. Oh hey, they’re here.” Reid says nodding behind you. Your binder bumps the protein bars causing them to tumble to the ground. As you’re scooping them up the last two members of the team come into the room. The food bags crinkle as they’re passed out and when you stand and turn to greet the two your jaw drops open.   
“Aaron?” You breathe. His eyes meet yours and the surprise is evident in them. “Oh my god!” You laugh throwing your arms around his neck and he wraps you in his arms pulling you tightly to him.  
“What are you doing here?”  
“I’m the NCIS liaison for the case.” You pull back slightly, just enough so you can see your childhood best friend’s face, “Holy shit.” You chuckle, he looks good.   
“You’re out of the Navy?”  
“Two years now.”   
“Wow. And you’re living in the D.C. Area?”  
“I am. Last I heard you were living in New York.”  
“No, that was my brother.”  
“Awe, little Seanny.” You laugh then suddenly the two of you realize how quiet it’s gotten in the room. You pull away from one another and shift awkwardly, to your surprised Aaron’s hand is still resting comfortably in the small of your back.   
“We grew up together,” Aaron explains to his team, “Well, from about the age of five to nine we were best friends. Then kids started getting mean about it and so we drifted until high school.”  
“I’m the one who introduced Aaron to Hayley.” You give his arm an affectionate squeeze and get a sad smile in return. “We’ve got time to catch up later, I need to brief you guys on what I’ve got.” You tell him opening the binder in front of you. He takes the seat to your right and passes you half of his sand which.   
“You still like salami, ham and cheese with mayo right?”   
“Yep.” You give him a grateful smile then start on your briefing. You fill them in on the four Navy men who’ve been killed, all with an ice pick. It was one of the things the killer did to mark his victims. The other was how he posed the bodies, flat on their backs, hands on their stomachs and a single deep red rose in their hands. When you caught him you’d have to thank this creep for ruining red roses for you. When you’re finished Aaron’s team takes over. They tell you about the victims they’ve got, everything is the same except for the gender. They’re all women.   
“Okay so what is it about here that has made him want to stay?”  
“What do you mean?” Prentiss asks.   
“Well my first two victims were on the east coast. Norfolk and Mayport. Have all your victims been west coast?”  
“No, two of them were but not all of them. We had one woman in Huntsville, Alabama.” Morgan says.   
“I had two in that area as well.”   
“Then they started out here.” JJ continues glancing up at the whiteboard. You follow her gaze then gather up the pictures you’ve got of the sailors and post them up too with names and dates. As you do a pattern emerges.


	3. Chapter 3

It doesn’t take you long to finish lunch, you want to head over to the base that the last victim was stationed at you need to get to work or Gibbs isn’t going to be happy.   
You end up shotgun in Aaron’s car, and you can’t help but study him as he drives.   
“You’re staring.” He says quietly and you laugh softly.   
“I know. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that we ran into each other like this. I mean what are the chances?”  
“If Reid was in here he’d be able to give you those statistics.” He tells you with a smile, it didn’t escape your notice that his whole team piled into the other two SUV’s leaving the two of you alone.   
“They seem like a good team.”  
“They are. Why did you go to NCIS when you left the Navy?”  
“Gibbs.” His face drops for half a second before you realize how that sounded. “Oh, no no I mean he helped catch a killer on my last ship. He’s no nonsense, a marine who gets the job done. I really respect him and he’s taken me under his wing, kind of become a father figure.” Both you and Hotch had rough relationships with your fathers and while he became a protector in his own right you found strong role models you could count on. Like Gibbs.   
“I just wish you would’ve come to the FBI.”  
“You know we would drive each other crazy if I worked with you full time.” You tease as he pulls up to the gates of the base.   
“Sir?” The man standing guard asks.   
“FBI. We need access to this base.”  
“Sorry sir, you have no jurisdiction.”  
“Yea,” you say pulling your credentials from your hip, “but I do. NCIS.” He glances at your badge and photo then nods and waves you and the other two trucks through the gate.  
You all pile out of the trucks and gather together. “Alright what do you guys know about being on a ship?” You ask, when you get blank stares from everyone but Rossi you sigh. It’s going to be a challenge to have them all on the ship. “Okay, how about this, we’ll set up a couple places for you guys to interview and I’ll do most of the running around on the ship.”  
“Can you just explain it to us?” Reid asks and you wince.   
“I mean I can but you’ll get lost, no matter how smart you are.”   
“Humor them.” Rossi says and you nod then give them the quick and dirty rundown of a ship and the terminology.   
“Do we have walkies or comms?” You ask Aaron.   
“Yea, why?”  
“Cell phones won’t work very well inside the ship.” He nods then they head back to their trucks and pull out their comm pieces. Aaron passes you one and you pop it into your ear then you and his team head onto the ship.


	4. Chapter 4

You work well with Aaron’s team. You fall into an easy pattern with them, giving directions when they get lost, explaining the different jobs each of the people they talk with does, they’re a lively bunch and you enjoy working with more people. After talking to everyone that had direct contact with the victim Aaron calls it for the night. Not a concept you’re used to. When Gibbs goes, he goes until the case is done.   
“Did NCIS get you a hotel room?” Aaron asks as you head back into the SUV.  
“Not exactly. I’ll just get a bunk on the ship, I just need my bag.”  
“No you won’t.” He argues, “You’ll stay with me.” You look over at him with eyebrows raised.   
“If I stay here I can keep working.”  
“Yea, now you’re definitely not going to stay here. It’s good to let your brain process everything, it helps.” He tells you holding open the passenger side door. You look up at him skeptically and the left side of his mouth quirks up. “You’re on my team now which means I’m your boss.”  
“Wow. Low blow Hotchner, low blow.” You grumble and this one gets a full smirk from you. “Fine I’m getting in.” You huff.   
“Good. What do you want for dinner?” He asks before shutting your door and making his way around the front of the SUV.   
“You guys don’t all eat together?” You ask when he gets back into the driver’s seat.  
“Sometimes.”  
“But not tonight.”  
“No, Dave said that they want to give us time to catch up.”  
“That’s nice of them.” You tell him as he pulls out of the base.   
“So, what do you want to do for dinner?”  
“Honestly, I’m exhausted. I’d like something quick so that we can go crash. I’m still on East Coast time.”   
“Burgers and fries?”  
“Sounds good to me.” You agree and he finds the nearest fast food joint. You don’t even have to remind him what you like on your burger.   
The first thing you do is change into your shorts and tee for the night, Aaron does the same putting on more comfortable clothing before joining you on the balcony where you’ve set up your dinner. The night passes with lots of laughter and several stories. It’s so nice to finally get to catch up and just be with him, you almost forget you’re working. Aaron tells you all about his son Jack, who you’d met at Hailey’s funeral, but he’d been so little then. He was almost 11 now and Aaron just lit up talking about him. You’d always known he’d be a good dad, he was so unlike his father.   
You tell him about your time in the Navy. Working with Gibbs, Tony, McGee, Ziva and Abby. You even tell him the story about how you’d ended up with the team. Not a story you really like telling, it brings up bad memories.   
It’s not until your head drifts to his shoulder that you realize how late it is.   
“Alright. We need sleep.” Aaron says wiggling his shoulder.   
“No.” You groan drawing out the word.   
“Come on, up.” You can practically hear the smile in his voice.   
“Just leave me here.” You tell him.   
“On the balcony?”   
“Yes.”   
“Yea okay.” He agrees and you’re not sure if he’s being sarcastic or not until he goes back into the hotel room. It’s a nice night out and the wind is blowing softly, you’d happily sleep out here. You close your eyes and relax into the bench cushions, a blanket and a pillow and you’d be perfect. Suddenly a pair of arms scoop you up into the air and you let out a surprised yelp, your eyes flying open.   
“What are you doing?” You demand.   
“You didn’t really think I was going to let you sleep out there did you?” Aaron asks before setting you down on the bed. “We’ve shared a bed before.”  
“Yea when we were nine.” You argue.   
“I can sleep on the couch.” He offers and you shake your head at him.   
“I’m just giving you shit Hotchner.” You tease and he flops face down onto the bed next to you causing you to burst out laughing. Oh how you’ve missed him.


	5. Chapter 5

You wake up wrapped in his arm. Your face is buried in his chest and he’s got a protective arm around you. It’s nice, you feel safe, safer than you’d felt in a long time. His breathing is even, slow and steady. You don’t move, you don’t want to wake him, you still can’t believe this is happening. You’d always regretted loosing touch with Aaron and Hailey. You’d been so close in high school, but when you’d joined the Navy it got harder, to stay in touch. They had their life together and you had your life on the ships you served on.   
Technology has completely changed the way the armed forces stay in touch with their families and friends. Maybe if you’d joined now it’d be different. Easier to stay in touch.   
It had been so obvious that Aaron and Hailey were in love. He still loved her, not as passionately but he’d probably always love her. You knew why. Hailey had been one of your friends too, you didn’t go as far back with her but you’d always liked her.  
Aaron draws in a deep breath and groans softly, you look up at him from under your eyelashes and give him a soft smile.   
“Morning.” He says smiling back down at you.   
“Morning.” You echo and to your surprise he presses his lips to your forehead. He seems to realize what he’s done a second after he does it, rolling away from you and stretching loudly. “What time are we meeting the rest of the team?”   
“9:00.” You glance over at the clock and see that it’s only quarter to eight.   
“Perfect. I’ve got some time to run.”  
“Mind if I join you?”  
“Think you can keep up?” You challenge and he laughs.   
“Bring it on.” You grab your workout clothes from inside your bag and head to the bathroom to change. When you come out he’s ready to go, you grab your phone and headphones and he quirks his eyebrow at you.   
“I need a beat.” You explain before tucking one of the buds into your ear and going to your playlist. “How far do you want to go?”  
“Two miles?” You nod then the two of you head out of the hotel. Aaron keeps pace with you but neither of you talk, it’s not uncomfortable, but it never has been with Aaron.  
After you get back from your run and shower you call Gibbs from the balcony.   
“Gibbs.”  
“Any new activity at any bases I need to know about?”  
“No. Give me an update.”  
“We interviewed everyone who had contact with the victim. Same as before. The BAU gave me a profile.”  
“Do you think they’re right?”  
“I don’t think they’re wrong, it’s just, it doesn’t exclude a whole lot of people. White male, mid to late twenties, angry, feels the need to prove himself, Gibbs I could give you seventy-five guys who fit that profile.” You say running your fingers through your wet hair in an effort to dry it faster. “I don’t know how much more we’re going to learn here. Especially if there’s not another murder.”  
“Has it been three there?”  
“No, but he didn’t murder three in the first state either.” You sigh heavily, “I feel like I’m a football field away, I can see the end zone but I can’t seem to get there.”  
“Find what you need. Don’t just sit on your ass and wait for it to find you.” He tells you before you hear that telltale click that lets you know he’s hung up.   
“You don’t think our profile is helpful huh.” Aaron says from behind you, his voice tight. You close your eyes for a second before turning toward him.   
“I didn’t say that.”  
“That’s how it sounded.”  
“Aaron-”  
“We’re good at what we do.” He cuts you off, “My team is the number one Behavioral analysis unit in the FBI.”  
“It’s not you guys I’m frustrated with!” You cry before he can get any angrier. “I’ve been on this case for weeks and I was hoping your team could get me a break and it just wasn’t there. It wasn’t what I was hoping for. Every person that dies is my fault!”  
“Sorry we’re not good enough.” He huffs before turning and going back into the hotel room.   
“Oh my god Aaron! Did you even listen to a word I said?” You snap, “Not everything is about you and your team!” He grabs his guns from the safe and after attaching one to his ankle and the other to his hip he leaves. The door slams shut behind him, you grab your own gun and badge then grab your bag. You’ll sleep on the ship tonight. Like you should’ve last night. You’re done letting this killer get away from you. Making sure you’ve got everything you follow Aaron out of the room, you meet his team in the lobby and while Aaron still looks irritated none of his team seem to like you any less.   
“I need to talk to one of my team so I need to go back to the base.”  
“We were gonna head right to the police station.” Morgan tells you.   
“That’s fine. Please feel free to call me if you hear anything or learn anything. I’ll just call for a Navy car.”  
“I’m sure someone can drop you off.” Prentiss argues looking meaningfully over at Aaron.   
“I don’t want to cause any issues.” You argue pulling your phone from your pocket. “You guys have stuff to do and I’ve got a feeling we’re not going to be here much longer.”  
“Why’s that?” Reid asks.   
“He usually kills two sailors and one civilian or two civilians and one sailor. Since he started with a civvy best guess is that he’ll go for another one then disappear again.” You glance over at Aaron who still won’t meet your eyes. “I just know they’re connected to the Navy. You saw the security you have to go through before getting on the base. I want to work it from that angle and I don’t really know what I’m looking for so it’d be a waste of your time and resources.”  
“What if something happens? We won’t be able to get ahold of you on the ship.” JJ asks.  
“I’ll check my phone every two hours.”  
“Every hour.” She counters and you chuckle.   
“Every hour and a half.”  
“Fine.” She glances over at Aaron with a concerned look on her face. You split off then and call for a car while the BAU team all pile into their SUV’s.


	6. Chapter 6

You’ve been on the ship for what feels like a year. Your timer goes off and you sigh, you have to go call JJ. Again. You feel like it’s a waste of time since you’ve got nothing new to tell her, and the last three times you’ve called she hasn’t had any new information. You make your way up to the top deck and once there you turn on your phone. You’ve got two voicemails from Tony. The first letting you know that the team has a case and to call him or Abby if you need anything. The second voicemail tells you you’ve got access to everyone who was on the bases during the kills. You go to your recent phone calls and tap on JJ’s number, as it rings you tap your fingernails on the railing.   
“You NCIS?” A voice asks from behind you.   
“Yea.” You confirm turning to face the sailor behind you. JJ’s phone goes to voicemail so you hang up. “What’s up?”  
“Did your partner find you?” He asks.  
“Partner?”  
“Yea, blonde guy, maybe six foot. Blue eyes. Came on board an hour ago.”  
“Not yet, I thought he was coming later.” You lie with a smile. “Thanks for letting me know.” He nods and heads further down the deck. No one was meeting you, not that you’d been told about anyway. You thought he’d been talking about one of the BAU but none of the men in the BAU are blonde.   
You hurry back down to your room and start sifting through the information. You search by NCIS agents first, while you don’t want it to be an Agent it’d be nice for this case to be over. After scanning through the list of names for two different bases you find a few matches. They narrow down to five at the next base and then one man is left when you look at the last list.   
You’ve got him. You sprint back up to the top deck and call Tony first. As you expected you get his voicemail.   
“Hey Tony. So I just found out that my new partner Aaron Hotchner and I are getting a a probie. His name is Nick Perry, let me know if you’ve got any information about him for me. Talk to you soon.” You turn and nearly drop the phone you’re so startled. Standing before you is a man with blonde hair and blue eyes, on his hip is an NCIS badge.  
“Oh my god.” You laugh pressing a hand to your chest, “you scared the hell out of me.” He doesn’t say anything, just looks at you suspiciously. “You Probational Agent Nick Perry?”  
“I’m no probie but yea, that’s my name.” He folds his arms over his chest, “How did you know my name?”  
“A member of my team called and told me that I’d have a probie joining me.” You lie, “Said it was you.” You don’t know how much of the conversation he overheard. If the uneasy feeling you’ve got is any indicator you could be in trouble if you don’t play this right. You can’t let him know you’re onto him.   
“I don’t believe you.” He says with a glare down at you. In a fist fight you’re probably not going to beat this guy.   
“I’ve got no reason to lie to you Nick.” You tell him leaning back and tucking your hand behind you, trying to get something to defend yourself with without him noticing.   
“Don’t.”  
“What?”  
“Don’t make me hurt you.” He says, and you’re suddenly very aware of how close he is, how much bigger than you he is and how alone the two of you are. You give him a smile that feels more like a grimace but you need to put him at ease. You swing your leg up between his, a low blow both literally and figuratively. You need the time to get away from him. Whatever few seconds you can get. You bolt down the deck and toward your room, if you can get to your room you can barricade yourself in until you get your weapon. How stupid could you be to leave it in your room?   
You know ships like the back of your hand and as you dart down yet another hallway the shot rings out. The pain rips through your leg as you crash to the ground. Fuck.   
“I told you not to make me hurt you.” He says, making this your fault.   
“You’re the one who pulled the trigger.” You tell him, you’re not going to go down without a fight.  
“You ran. You attacked me.” He yells, why isn’t anyone coming? “What are you looking for?”   
“The people. I’ve never seen a ship so quiet.”  
“They were informed of a biohazard. Too bad you didn’t get the memo.” He aims the gun at you then gives you a look of mock sympathy. You stare up at him, you’re going to make him look you in the eyes when he kills you.   
Then the trigger is pulled.


	7. Chapter 7

You flinched. You’re not proud of that fact but you did. You weren’t ready to die. You’re frozen, you haven’t moved since the gun fired your gaze still locked on where his eyes were.   
Aaron’s face comes into view. He’s talking to you, one hand on your face then he notices your wound.   
“You’ve been shot.” He says pulling off his suit jacket and tie. “We need a medic!” He informs the team into his comm unit before he wraps his jacket around your leg. You gasp at the pain. “That’s good. Tell me what happened.” He says, those hazel eyes of his searching your face.   
“It was an NCIS Agent. I needed to let someone know and JJ wasn’t answering her phone so I called DiNozzo.”  
“Why didn’t you call me?”  
“You were so pissed this morning.” You say, your words seem to be so airy as they flow out of your mouth.   
“I know. I’m sorry.” He says tying his tie tightly around your leg.   
“Fuck Aaron!” You cry your gaze snapping to his face. The sudden surge of pain seems to have snapped you back to reality, and not in a fun way.  
“Sorry.” His eyes meet yours, “I can’t have you bleeding out we’ve got things to talk about.”  
“We do?”  
“Yes. But first let’s get you out of here.” He slides his arm under yours and helps pull you to your feet, well foot. You wince, “You good?”  
“It’s going to be slow moving but I’ll be fine. I want off this ship.”   
“I don’t blame you. You want me to carry you?”   
“No. I’m not that desperate.” You mumble, you are a bit dizzy and you kind of want to puke but other than that you’re okay. Aaron chuckles softly, “what?”  
“You’re so stubborn.”   
“Ma'am?” A voice calls down the stairs, you look up and see a Navy medic. “Ma'am have you been shot?”  
“Through and through in my left leg.”   
“We’ve got a gurney, let me get it for you.”   
“I’m good. I want off this damn ship.”   
“Stubborn.” Aaron says, “And as your superior you’re going to take that gurney.”   
“I’m fine!”  
“She’ll take the gurney.” Aaron tells her and you glare at him but she nods and hurries away.   
“I said I didn’t want it.”  
“I know.” God he’s infuriating. “Gibbs and I had a chat. He told me if you don’t come back in one piece he’s coming for me.”  
“I did tell you he was protective didn’t I?” Aaron lifts you slightly so that you don’t have to put any weight on your injured leg as you make your way up the stairs.   
The gurney is waiting for you when you get to the top. “I’m not sitting on that.”  
“Yes you are.”  
“No.”  
“Pretty soon I’ll have them strap you down too.” He threatens and you concede with a huff.   
“You’re coming with right?” You ask as they start to roll you away.   
“If you want me I’m there.” He says and you nod.


	8. Chapter 8

Gibbs calls you while you’re in the hospital. He’s gruff and angry about you being shot but he’s also concerned about you.   
“I’m fine Gibbs. I promise.”  
“When are you coming home? Do I need to set you up on a transfer?”  
“The BAU is going to let me hitch a ride back to Quantico.” You tell him as Aaron walks into the room he nods and shows you your go bag.   
“You need a ride you call.”  
“Sounds good Gibbs. I’ll email McGee my report.”  
“Good.” He hangs up then and you shove your phone into your pocket.   
“You’re free to go.” Aaron says with a grin, he passes you some crutches.   
“Freedom!” You cry taking them, “I’m free!” Aaron shakes his head at you and you grin over at him. It’s slow going with you on your crutches but at least you’re moving of your own free will. You keep waiting for Aaron to talk, he said you needed to talk but so far he’s been quiet. It’s not until he punches the elevator button that you can look up at him. His eyes are already on you.  
“What?” He asks, he could always read you well.   
“You said we needed to talk. But I’m still waiting.”  
“You want to do this now? In the hospital? While we wait for the elevator?”  
“Aaron I was shot today, I’m done waiting. You wanted to talk, so talk.” The elevator doors slide open and you move inside.   
“Okay, well first I wanted to apologize.” He starts pushing the button to go to the parking garage. “I over reacted in the hotel room and it was stupid.”  
“And very unlike you.” You add.   
“I know. I wanted,” he looks down but then lifts his eyes to meet yours, “I wanted to impress you and it seemed like we hadn’t so I got embarrassed.”   
“Yea, that is pretty stupid.” You agree lightheartedly and Aaron scoffs at you. As the elevator doors slide open you begin to crutch your way to the SUV and he continues.   
“It’s just, after seeing you again after all these years it brought back a lot of old feelings and memories.”  
“Nostalgia makes people do weird things.”   
“No.” He says as he unlocks the truck. “That’s not what I mean?”  
“Then what do you mean?”  
“I mean the feelings I had for you before you set me up with Hailey and made it clear you didn’t feel the same way.” You lean back against the SUV and look up at him.   
“Wh-what?” You stammer.   
“I was head over heels for you and apparently am again.” He tells you, not even blinking.  
“So, why don’t you do something about it?” You ask softly and he smirks down at you then crashes his lips into yours.  
You almost loose your balance as his lips move along yours. You pull away from him with a soft laugh.   
“How is that for doing something about it?” Aaron asks softly, his forehead resting against yours.  
“I liked it very much.” You grin up at him and he chuckles before moving your hair out of your face. He kisses you again and then opens the door for you. Using your good leg you hop up onto the seat, wincing slightly as you swing around and settle into the seat. Aaron shuts the door then makes his way around the front of the SUV, he climbs in and starts it. You watch him quietly as he pulls the car out of parking space then onto the road.   
“You’re staring again.” He says with a small smirk.   
“I know.” You reach over and take his hand in yours, “Thank you.”  
“For?”  
“Saving my life. I thought I was done for.”  
“I should’ve been with you.”  
“No. You don’t get to blame yourself this time Aaron. I know you like to do that but this is all on him. He went bad, liked the badge and the power and this is his fault.” You can’t bring yourself to say the agent’s name.   
“Fine. It’s his fault.” Aaron concedes.  
You fill the rest of the ride with conversation. Nothing spectacular or overly exciting but it’s nice to be able to just chat with him again. You’d always been able to talk to Aaron about just about anything.  
When you get to the jet you take the stairs slowly, using both railings to hoist yourself up them. Aaron is behind you with your crutches and when you make it to the inside of the jet your mouth drops open.   
“Are you kidding me?” You cry causing his team to all look up at you in surprise.   
“What?” Aaron asks looking concerned.   
“This is like fucking Versailles compared to the dump truck I came in on. I was on a cargo plane Aaron. Strapped between boxes.” You tell him easing yourself down into a seat. Rossi chuckles and you notice the rest of his team smiling.   
“You could always come work with us.”  
Aaron says cautiously, “Be a part of our team.” You eye him for a minute, trying to gauge if he’s kidding or not. He’s not. You lean back and close your eyes.   
“Rule number 12 Aaron.”  
“What’s rule number 12?” He asks. You peek open your right eye and smirk at him.   
“Never date a co-worker.”  
“Alright. I guess I can settle for that compromise.” He says before kissing you softly.   
It’s a good compromise.


End file.
